13.10.2026 12:12
Childhood friends Mazlum Gürbüz (19) and Levent Çelik (18), who worked as occupational safety support staff at a construction site in Eyüpsultan, Istanbul, were sent by their supervisors to install a sign even though work had been suspended due to rain. When the metal strip in their hands touched a high-voltage line, the two young men were electrocuted; Gürbüz died after spending about a week in intensive care. Çelik said, 'We were forced to do it out of fear of being fired.'
In EYÜPSULTAN, although work at a construction company was stopped due to rain, 2 workers sent to the site to install a sign were electrocuted after a metal strip came into contact with a high-voltage line. Childhood friends who came from Van to work, Mazlum Gürbüz (19) lost his life, while Levent Çelik (18) was injured. Çelik said, "Out of fear of being fired, we were forced to go and work in the rainy weather; neither of us wanted to work." The family's lawyer said, "The children were given a metal rod without gloves on their hands. When this metal rod touched the high-voltage line, conductivity increased further and caused the high-voltage line to shock the body. The children definitely did not have gloves on their hands."
Levent Çelik, who lived in Van, moved to Istanbul 1 year ago because of a job he found at a construction company. At the company where he worked as occupational safety personnel, Çelik also found a job for his childhood friend Mazlum Gürbüz. The two friends worked together at the same construction site for about 5 months. Around 11:00 on September 29, Gürbüz and Çelik, working at the construction site in Kemerburgaz Neighborhood, stopped working due to rain and went to the dormitory where they were staying. A while later, when the rain eased, the two workers were called by their supervisors and summoned back to the site to install a sign. When one of the workers, who had gone up to the area with the sign on a basket platform, raised the metal strip in his hand, it touched the high-voltage line. As the metal strip conducted the electric current, both workers were electrocuted. Mazlum Gürbüz, one of the workers who fell into the basket, fainted. When Levent Çelik asked for help, the operator lowered the basket. First-aid teams at the site intervened on Gürbüz, whose heart had stopped, and tried to revive him. After first aid, the two workers were taken to the hospital.
HE DIED ONE WEEK LATER
Mazlum Gürbüz, who was treated in intensive care for about 1 week, lost his life on October 5. The injured Levent Çelik was discharged after his treatment. After autopsy procedures at the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute, Gürbüz's body was handed over to his family. Gürbüz was buried in the Tuşba district of his hometown, Van.
The mother, Cahide Gürbüz, claiming that her son was forced to work in rainy weather, said, "My son dropped out of school; our situation was not good, so he had to come to work. There is a work accident, negligence; they forced him to work, it was not his job. On a rainy day, they asked my son to take out and remove the sign. They took my son by force, forced him to work."
Levent Çelik, injured in the work accident, describing the day of the incident, said, "We got up in the morning; because it was raining, we went to the room and lay down, we didn't work. At 11:00 our supervisor called. He said, 'The rain has eased a bit, go and do the sign.' The weather was rainy; we went up on the work machine. My friend had an iron strip in his hand; we were going to install it on the sign. While lifting the strip, it touched the electrical wire, and both of us were electrocuted. We fell into the basket; he fainted. I could talk. The moment we were electrocuted, we told the operator to lower us down. After lowering us, we called our supervisors. They came, and the site's first-aid team intervened. My friend's heart stopped; with intervention it was restarted. The ambulance came 15-20 minutes later. Maybe if the ambulance had come 5 minutes earlier, our friend would not be in this situation today. After that we came to the hospital," he stated.
'WE WORKED IN THE RAIN OUT OF FEAR OF BEING FIRED'
Çelik, stating that they had to work in rainy weather out of fear of being fired, said, "When I saw my friend like that, I couldn't feel my own pain. At that moment I was not aware of anything, but afterwards every part of me hurt, I was shaking. I had an open wound on my hand; my hand was bleeding. Because the weather was rainy, we told the supervisor we did not want to go up. The supervisor said, 'The weather isn't that bad, go up.' Out of fear of being fired, we were forced to go and work in the rainy weather. Neither of us wanted to work. He said, 'It isn't raining much.' So we were forced to go," he said.
Çelik, claiming that the necessary safety measures were not taken at the construction site, said, "We were working at the site as occupational safety support personnel. We were there to ensure that workers worked safely, but the company could not ensure our safety. I have been working here for 1 year. I started last September, and my friend started in June. We are both childhood friends; we grew up in the same village. We were studying, but because we had financial difficulties due to family reasons, we dropped out of school and came here, worked in construction. Normally, the work we did was not our responsibility. We were only ensuring the occupational safety of the workers on site. Right now I am very sad; I can barely stand. He was a friend I loved very much; we grew up together, he was like a brother to me. When we went there, we did not know there was an electric current. They did not tell us there was a power line. They also did not state whether they had cut the electricity. We understood when we were electrocuted. Neither of us knew there was high voltage on the pole and wires. There was no measure of any kind either," he said.
'THEY WERE MADE TO WORK WITH A METAL ROD WITHOUT GLOVES'
The family's lawyer, Doğan Bayer, stating that the installation had been done by another team one day earlier but was swinging in the wind because it was not sturdy, said, "On September 28, another team does this installation, but because it was not installed well, it swings in the wind. On September 29, the main employer instructs occupational safety experts to reinforce the installation. Because the weather is rainy, the workers are told, 'Don't work today, go to the dormitories.' However, our workers are told to do the installation work. This work is not in their job description. Their duty is to identify deficiencies, risks and hazards at the workplace and report them to occupational safety experts. If work related to electricity is to be done, appropriate protective equipment must be used. The children were given a metal rod without gloves on their hands. When this rod touched the high-voltage line, it caused the current to be transmitted to their bodies. They definitely did not have gloves on their hands. This is one of the causes of the work accident. As a result of the chain of negligence, unfortunately one person lost his life and one person was injured," he said. Bayer, claiming that the installation work was not in the workers' job description, that they were not given the necessary training, and that no safety belt was provided either, said, "If an insulating material against electricity had been used, if gloves had been worn, or if the strip in their hands had not been metal, the transmission of the current could have been prevented. That the workers were sent up to a high point for this installation is also negligence. We think the fault rate is 100 percent. We also assess that the intervention of the ambulance and the workplace physician was delayed. Perhaps life could have been saved with early intervention. We will also follow this issue in the judicial process," he stated.
The uncle, Şerafettin Canpolat, stating that the family is in a devastated state, said, "He was very young, only 19 years old. He fell victim to this accident without even knowing what the work or the accident was. We think it was a great negligence. "Since this is a work accident, we will try to defend our rights to the end. His mother and father have been constantly fainting for a week. They sent their children here to work, and now they are receiving their bodies. His family is really in a very miserable condition," he said.
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